June 2025: Prepare and Be Aware

One time when my daughter was little, I was helping out in her nursery group. We were in a public building and there were about a dozen little kids and a few other adults in the room. As we were passing out the fish crackers and juice for snack time, the fire alarm suddenly went off. Everyone’s eyes went big, and the adults looked around with a “what do we do?” expression.

While the alarm was blaring, no one did anything until I said, “It’s a fire alarm! Let’s get these kids out of here!”

I grabbed my daughter and started herding some other kids to the door. The other adults started following suit. We got partially out the door and down the hall to the exit before one of the organization leaders said,

“False alarm! No fire! Everything is safe. You can go back to where you were before.”

Apparently, another kid somewhere in the building was wandering the halls and wondered what would happen if he pulled the bright red handle on the wall.

There was no emergency, but it got me thinking about what would have happened if there really had been a fire. How long would people wait after the alarm rang before they did anything to evacuate from the building, let alone help others to exit?

Normalcy Bias

Everyone’s failure to act was because of the normalcy bias. Normalcy bias is when you expect everything to return to the normal routine you are used to, even if the circumstances of your situation have changed. This can help us cope with the everyday stresses of life, but in an emergency, when you may need to make a decision and act quickly, it can be dangerous.

In most emergency situations, people mill around and wait to see what everyone else does. It’s not that people don’t know what to do, it’s more that their brains haven’t accepted that the situation is real. They wait for someone else to take the lead and make sense of this different thing that popped up in their “normal” day.

Normalcy bias prevents us from seeing potential danger and correctly responding to it. People think that when they are surprised or frightened that they will go into “fight or flight” mode. The reality is that most people freeze with indecision. If you never encounter a situation, your brain won’t know what to do. You freeze.

Overcoming Normalcy Bias

You don’t want to become paranoid, but you need to train your brain to properly react to difficult situations.

Think about hazards that are possible where you live, work, and spend time. Start with the ones that are the most probable. (Hint: Zombie apocalypse is not probable.) Fire? Earthquake? Severe injury? Gas leak?

What are the warning signs of these and other hazards? Alarms? Different sounds or smells? Behaviors that seem out of the ordinary? Maybe even an odd feeling.
Know the proper protective action for these hazards. Teach and practice them with family. Remember that you are training your brains. The more you practice, the more you will react quickly and correctly if you find yourself in that situation. Practice your household emergency plans as well. Make corrections as needed. During an emergency, follow your emergency plans and continue to assess the situation. Be ready to be flexible and adapt.

It’s been said that during an emergency, we think we will rise to the occasion. In reality, we sink to our level of preparedness.

Take all emergency drills seriously. Just as being on any team sport, we play the way we practice. It’s been said that during an emergency, we think we will rise to the occasion. In reality, we sink to our level of preparedness. When you hear the alarm, act immediately. It’s better to err on the side of safety than to suffer injury or worse.

We are all subject to some degree of normalcy bias. It takes a conscious effort to overcome its effects. Remember that your safety and that of your family and household members are your responsibility. Practice together to “be ready” to react correctly to an emergency situation.

Visit BeReadyUtah.gov for more information on safety and security in preparation for an emergency.

Do This:

🤔 Practice protective actions for different situations. Take a few minutes each day to think “what if” and how you would react to different situations in different locations.

👍 Be aware of what is normal so you know when something is not. This does not necessarily mean there is danger, but if you are paying attention to what is not normal, you are quicker to respond if it becomes dangerous.

👀 Use all of your senses when looking for something out of the ordinary. Does something look, sound, smell, taste, or feel wrong? It might be.

🧯When you go in a building or attend an outside event, locate exits, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, and emergency responders. Many buildings and events also have first aid kits, trauma kits, and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for public access.

🚨Always stay alert and aware of your surroundings. It’s called situational awareness. Trust your instincts. If people or locations are making you uneasy, leave or stay away. It is best to avoid or remove yourself from potentially dangerous situations.